Psalm 119:108

Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(108) Freewill offerings of my mouth—i.e., thanks and praise.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

119:105-112 The word of God directs us in our work and way, and a dark place indeed the world would be without it. The commandment is a lamp kept burning with the oil of the Spirit, as a light to direct us in the choice of our way, and the steps we take in that way. The keeping of God's commands here meant, was that of a sinner under a dispensation of mercy, of a believer having part in the covenant of grace. The psalmist is often afflicted; but with longing desires to become more holy, offers up daily prayers for quickening grace. We cannot offer any thing to God, that he will accept but what he is pleased to teach us to do. To have our soul or life continually in our hands, implies constant danger of life; yet he did not forget God's promises nor his precepts. Numberless are the snares laid by the wicked; and happy is that servant of God, whom they have not caused to err from his Master's precepts. Heavenly treasures are a heritage for ever; all the saints accept them as such, therefore they can be content with little of this world. We must look for comfort only in the way of duty, and that duty must be done. A good man, by the grace of God, brings his heart to his work, then it is done well.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will offerings of my mouth - Or, the meaning of the word here rendered "free-will," see the notes at Psalm 110:3. It conveys the idea that there is no constraint or compulsion; that the offering is a prompting of the heart. The offering might be that of flour, or grain, or fruits, or property of any kind, as devoted to God; or it might be, as here, an offering of the lips, expressed in prayer and praise. Either of them might be acceptable to God; their being accepted in either case would depend on the good pleasure of God, and hence, the psalmist prays that his offering might be thus acceptable. Compare Hebrews 13:15.

And teach me thy judgments - Thy commands; thy laws. See the notes at Psalm 119:12.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

108. freewill offerings—the spontaneous expressions of his gratitude, as contrasted with the appointed "offerings" of the temple (Ho 14:2; Heb 13:15). He determines to pursue this way, relying on God's quickening power (Ps 119:50) in affliction, and a gracious acceptance of his "spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise" (Ps 50:5, 14, 23).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 108. The free-will offerings of my mouth; either,

1. Those which I have promised with my mouth, though I am not now in a capacity of performing my promises, as being banished from thy house. Or rather,

2. The sacrifices of prayer and praises, which I do freely and frequently offer unto thee; which are called sacrifices, as Psalm 50:14, and calves of our lips, Hosea 14:2.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth,

O Lord,.... Not sacrifices out of his flocks and herds, such as were the voluntary and freewill offerings brought to the priests under the law, though there may be an allusion to them; nor out of his substance, such as David and his people willingly offered towards the building of the temple; but these are not the freewill offerings of his hands, but of his mouth; the spiritual sacrifices of prayer praise: prayer is an offering; see Psalm 141:2; and it is a freewill offering, when a man is assisted by the free Spirit of God, and can pour out his soul freely to the Lord, in the exercise of faith and love. Praise is an offering more pleasing to God than an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs, because it glorifies him; and it is a freewill offering when it is of a man's own accord, comes from his heart; when he calls upon his soul, and all within him, to bless the Lord: and as every good man is desirous of having his sacrifices accepted with the Lord, so they are accepted by him when offered up through Christ, 1 Peter 2:5;

and teach me thy judgments; for though he was wiser than his enemies, and had more understanding than his teachers, or than the ancients; yet needed to be instructed more and more, and was desirous of being taught of God. This petition, or what is similar to it, is often put up.

Geneva Study Bible

Accept, I beseech thee, the {c} freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.

(c) That is, my prayer and thanksgiving which Hosea calls the calves of the lips, Ho 14:2.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

108. the freewill offerings of my mouth] The sacrifice of prayer and praise (Hebrews 13:15); voluntary vows of devotion to the law. Cp. Psalm 19:14.

teach me &c.] Cp. Psalm 119:12 &c. Vows of obedience are vain without Divine instruction and grace.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 108. - Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord; i.e. my prayers and praises. The lifting up of the hands to God is a kind of sacrifice (Psalm 141:2). And teach me thy judgments. And, in return, make me to understand thy statutes (comp. vers. 12, 26, 33, etc.). Psalm 119:108

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The eightfold Nun. The word of God is his constant guide, to which he has entrusted himself for ever. The way here below is a way through darkness, and leads close past abysses: in this danger of falling and of going astray the word of God is a lamp to his feet, i.e., to his course, and a light to his path (Proverbs 6:23); his lamp or torch and his sun. That which he has sworn, viz., to keep God's righteous requirements, he has also set up, i.e., brought to fulfilment, but not without being bowed down under heavy afflictions in confessing God; wherefore he prays (as in Psalm 119:25) that God would revive him in accordance with His word, which promises life to those who keep it. The confessions of prayer coming from the inmost impulse of his whole heart, in which he owns his indebtedness and gives himself up entirely to God's mercy, he calls the free-will offerings of his mouth in Psalm 119:108 (cf. Psalm 50:14; Psalm 19:15). He bases the prayer for a gracious acceptance of these upon the fact of his being reduced to extremity. "To have one's soul in one's hand" is the same as to be in conscious peril of one's life, just as "to take one's soul into one's hand" (Judges 12:3; 1 Samuel 19:5; 1 Samuel 28:21; Job 13:14) is the same as to be ready to give one's life for it, to risk one's life.

(Note: Cf. B. Taanth 8a: "The prayer of a man is not answered אלא אם כן משׂים נפשׁו בכפו, i.e., if he is not ready to sacrifice his life.")

Although his life is threatened (Psalm 119:87), yet he does not waver and depart from God's word; he has taken and obtained possession of God's testimonies for ever (cf. Psalm 119:98); they are his "heritage," for which he willingly gives up everything else, for they (המּה inexactly for הנּה) it is which bless and entrance him in his inmost soul. In Psalm 119:112 it is not to be interpreted after Psalm 19:12 : eternal is the reward (of the carrying out of Thy precepts), but in Psalm 119:33 עקב is equivalent to לעד, and Psalm 119:44 proves that Psalm 119:112 need not be a thought that is complete in itself.